


Maybe You Have Your Reasons

by frek



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Late Night Conversations, Loneliness, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-19 06:06:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1458730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frek/pseuds/frek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek didn't know when Stiles had begun to make it a habit of showing up at his place when he needed someone to talk to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe You Have Your Reasons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sova](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sova/gifts).



> Written as a birthday gift for the wonderful [geeky-sova](http://geeky-sova.tumblr.com). <3
> 
> ALSO! [Check out the gorgeous art she drew to accompany this fic.](http://geeky-sova.tumblr.com/post/82694249863/a-little-something-i-sketched-after-reading-maybe) Thank you so much, darling. <333

Derek didn't know when Stiles had begun to make it a habit of showing up at his place when he needed someone to talk to, but when he thought about it he couldn't remember a time when it didn't happen. If he were pressed, Derek would probably say that it had begun sometime after the Nogitsune but before he began to rebuild his home in the preserve. 

Definitely before then because Derek could remember nights when he was convinced of his loneliness in the large, empty loft only to be proven wrong by the familiar quick heartbeat of the teen as he pushed open the large door. Those early days, Stiles often looked much like a ghost standing in the doorway, his skin pale in the moonlight, dark circles under his eyes. He'd linger in the doorway until Derek would beckon him in and only then would he cross the loft to the couch or bed where Derek was sitting and curl up beside him.

At first, Derek had sat stiffly beside Stiles while they spoke, afraid to touch and comfort like he had desperately wanted. Eventually, though, instinct won out and when Stiles had come over and curled up beside him, talking softly about whatever came to mind, Derek would slide an arm around his bowed shoulders, pulling him in close. The way Stiles pressed in closer the first time he had done it made Derek's chest ache even when he thought about it months later. It was like he had been starved for the comfort, like he needed it more than he was willing to admit. 

After that, Derek always made sure to hold Stiles. He would wrap an arm around him, run his fingertips along his arm. The touches became more pronounced the more Stiles came around until it wasn't unusual for Derek to be brushing his lips over the crown of Stiles' head and nuzzling gently into his soft hair. Stiles never said anything and Derek never brought it up. It was just something they did. Like the late nights staying up talking about the things they never told anyone else.

Even in the beginning, Derek never turned Stiles away. He knew that he had come to him for a reason. Probably the same reasons that Derek had spent many sleepless nights trying to save Stiles from the possession. They shared a connection and even if they never actually spoke of it, it was there. They'd trusted each other too much, faced death together too often for nothing to have come of it. If nothing else, that camaraderie was enough for Derek to welcome Stiles into his space, to share in the comfort of his company when there was no one else for either of them.

Maybe it was just born of necessity. The Sheriff was busy with work and Stiles' friends busy with life. None of them had been affected as badly as Stiles and had found it easier to move on from the events. Derek had no one else and Stiles knew it. He was just as lonely and drifting as Stiles had been, though for his own reasons.

But however it started made no difference to Derek. Not when he was sitting in the living room of his newly rebuilt home, the tv casting shadows on he and Stiles as they leaned against each other on the couch, their bodies indiscernible from each other in the dim light. For the first time since the fire he didn't feel alone. He felt happy and cared for in ways that he couldn't have imagined for himself back when he and Laura had left Beacon Hills, the familiar sights retreating in the rearview as they drove down the road.

And Stiles... Derek couldn't speak for him, but he knew he was doing better now. His cheeks weren't hollow anymore, they were full and often had a rosy flush to them when he smiled. The dark circles under his eyes were gone. But nothing spoke stronger of his change to Derek than his scent. Gone was the despair and sadness that had permeated his scent whenever he had come over the loft. Now whenever Derek nuzzled against his temple, all he could smell was a strong sense of happiness and contentment. It did more for Derek than he'd probably ever admit, to know that he was, at least in part, responsible for that change.

And two nights later, when Stiles had tilted his head into the press of Derek's lips just over his ear, Derek's heart did a little skip in his chest. Then again when Stiles turned his head further and followed that kiss with one of his own, their lips brushing together chastely. Derek could hear the way Stiles' heart was racing and it was all he could do to reassure him, reaching up to cup his cheek as he leaned back in for more, their lips slotting together like they were made for each other. It left Derek wondering if that were the case. That after all they had gone through, this was what they were meant for, to find comfort in each other's arms, to build something more together. Something wonderful and good and maybe even happy.

So, yeah, maybe it was their bond. Or necessity. Or convenience. Regardless, the two of them had found each other through the haze of their loss and emptiness. And somehow despite it all, they had worked together to rebuild themselves, however changed they may be.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [frek](http://frek.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Come talk Teen Wolf and Sterek with me. <3


End file.
